switching gears...new painting series

I know, I know I am not done with the domestic series yet, but I couldn't resist changing gears for a few nights to start on this mothering one. (I made the rule so I can break it!)So here is the first one in my mothering series as seen on the sparkly new easel.

A story behind the shot, this is the crib at my parents house that they've had since my childhood, and a quilt my grandmother crocheted. It is smooth color blocks of yellow, white, and aqua-- so very cool. The baby is actually my two year old squeezed into a pair of 6-12 month jammies (quite comical)

As I approach this series though I am struggling with how to do this series without it feeling overly sentimental? I am hoping the more stylized nature of the technique will help. I want them to be interesting and make people think about domestic connectionss but I don't want them to feel like posters of puppy dogs (you know the "ahhh thats so cute factor") which things that involve babies often engender?

Looking at the photograph is making me think I need to change the skirt a little- it's making my backside look a little wide-like a bad pair of jeans. As the unfortunate model for all the shots (as anyone who goes to knows me can tell you they see these outfits and shoes regularly), I don't want to be remembered in unflattering ways...